Tedisco: Tragic Truck Fire Highlights Need to Ban Horse Transport for Slaughter

Assemblyman Jim Tedisco is advocating for legislation to ban the transport of horses for slaughter following a tragic incident on Interstate 81 near Binghamton, New York, where 30 horses perished in a truck fire. The horses were en route from Pennsylvania to a slaughter plant in Montreal, Canada.

Tedisco is promoting legislation to prohibit the slaughter of horses for human consumption and to prevent horses from being transported across state lines in New York for slaughter. The bill (A.3905/S.4615) is co-sponsored by Tedisco and is prime-sponsored by Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick (D-Manhattan) and Senator Kathy Marchione (R,C-Halfmoon).

“New York’s horses deserve better than to be packed into a truck and burned to death while on their way to be slaughtered and turned into food for foreigners. The tragic deaths of these 30 horses could have been prevented if our bill was in place to prevent horses from being trucked across New York State lines for slaughter,” said Tedisco.

Tedisco noted that in 2010, about 138,000 American horses were exported to Canada to be slaughtered, the vast majority of which were intended for human consumption abroad, primarily in Europe and Japan.

The 1986 Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand was sent to Japan in 2002 where he was slaughtered and became either pet food or steaks for human consumption. Europe has been rocked by recent scandals over horsemeat sold as beef that contained veterinary medicine that’s prohibited from human consumption.

“Horses are athletes and companions. They work the farm and provide therapeutic services to veterans and people with disabilities. Horses carried American soldiers into battle and helped build this country. It’s just plain unpatriotic to allow for our horses to be sent abroad to be inhumanely slaughtered and turned into food. Moreover, this is a public safety issue as there’s no guarantee horse meat, which is not fit for human consumption, will not end up in the U.S. food supply,” said Tedisco.

Originally Posted By Jim Tedisco.com